new play development | CreateTheater

The 2022 New Works Festival Awards

by Cate Cammarata | Jun 21, 2022 | Musicals, New Works Festival, NPD, Producing

It is quite a feat to produce an Off-Broadway play or musical; it is quite another to produce an entire festival of Off-Broadway showcases – during covid.

Yet that is exactly what we did with the first 2022 CreateTheater New Works Festival, in association with Prism Stage Company.

From April 15^th to May 15^th at NYC’s prestigious Theater Row (410 West 42^nd Street), we showcased seven productions – six new musicals and one new play – from writers across the country who had developed their work in-house through CreateTheater’s resident writer company, The Expert’s Theater Company (ETC). The productions in the festival were Finding Madame Curie by David Kurkowski; The Golden Cage by Deborah Henson-Conant; Fire Island: The Musical by Jarlath Jones; Sewing the Dream by Judith Estrine, music by David Kurkowski; Ocean in a Teacup by Joel Krantz, lyrics by Neil Selden; Rewind: An 80s Pop Musical by Geoffrey and Sam Rose; and the play Retraction by David Z. Gutierrez.

CreateTheater’s mission has from the beginning been to help develop and produce new plays and musicals. Writers trust me with their new scripts and librettos as a dramaturg-producer. That’s a sacred trust. It’s my job to help them craft work that delivers over their intention to the audience, what they need to say in this time, in this space, through this story. Once I feel the script or libretto “works,” then it must be tested out in front of an audience – which is what we just did.

As an Off-Broadway producer I am known for a certain level of quality, which it was important for me to retain even at the festival level. If you look at the photos on the newworksfest.org website, you can see that each of these shows reflected our high production values. Most sophisticated NY audiences were surprised at what they saw onstage, which went far beyond what they’ve come to expect in a “festival” format.

“The New Works Festival on Theater Row, produced by Cate Cammarata, was an exhilarating display of new work by playwrights with new voices,” said Ed Levy, one of the festival adjudicators. “From the exuberant 80’s rock and roll of Geoffrey and Sam Rose’s Rewind to the deep philosophical reflection of Joel Krantz’s Ocean in a Teacup, from the Golden-Age melodious, lyrical and comic numbers in the period musicals, Finding Madame Curie by David Kurkowski and Sewing the Dream by Estrine and Kurkowski, to the delightfully fanciful and innovative Golden Cage by Deborah Henson-Conant and the lively and beautifully choreographed Fire Island by Jacobs and Solla, the musicals were dramatic and joyful. The one straight play, Retraction, by David Gutierrez was charged with electricity, incisive and provocative. Coming after the drought of the shutdown, this festival of wonderful new works is a welcome shower of delights.”

“Cate Cammarata has established a most needed and important organization in the form of ETC,” said Neal Rubenstein, a veteran Broadway producer. “It is here that those aspiring to be part of the theater community, under the auspices of Ms. Cammarata, have been instructed, guided, and in many instances seen their respective projects produced for viewing.”

Rubenstein also found much of the new work promising. “For me, Finding Madame Curie was especially exciting. It was an enlightening story which should be performed in elementary and/or high schools. Kerry Conte & Kyle Yampiro’s voices soared! The casting brings this musical to vocal heights. Kudos to David Kurkowski for amazing music & lyrics that carry Marie Curie’s story forward under the deft direction of Stas Kimiec and musical direction of Larry Daggett.”

We had four adjudicators for the 2022 New Works Festival, all experienced theatre-makers. Steve Marsh is a playwright/director, and a member of the nominating committee for the 2014-2015 Drama Desk Awards. Neal Rubenstein is a five-time TONY-nominated Broadway producer and also a producing member of The Experts Theater Company (ETC). Two other writer members of ETC served as adjudicators: Ed Levy, a librettist-lyricist, and Chris Sherman, a playwright.

“CreateTheater’s New Works Festival on Theatre Row in NYC is one of the most hopeful theatrical events in recent years,” says Marsh. “It has given great opportunities for playwrights, composers, and librettists to have their works produced professionally, Off Broadway, in front of a true NYC crowd. This year’s festival was truly inspiring! I can’t wait to see more.”

“CreateTheatre, under the skillful and loving eye of Cate Cammarata, has produced a new festival that showcases a wide variety of top-notch plays and musicals,” added adjudicator-playwright Chris Sherman. “Calling it a festival does not do it justice. I’ve never seen such professional and polished production values in any other festival, complete with full sets, period costumes, and scenic projections. Future productions are sure to be on every producer’s must-see list. A true Off-Broadway experience!”

It is always my producing goal to give writers something tangible to take away from a production, something that captures the ephemeral moment of theater once it’s over. Awards are important “proofs” of excellence, preserving the momentous work of so many theatremakers that collaborate to make a production unique. Although I cannot begin to recognize all of the amazing talents and hard work that went into this project, I am proud to present these 2022 CreateTheater NWF Awards.

The 2022 CreateTheater New Works Festival Award winners are:

Best Actor in a Play or Musical – (tie)

REWIND (Jason Denton)
GOLDEN CAGE (Chris Isolano)

Best Actress in a Play or Musical

SEWING THE DREAM (Aubrey Matalon)

Best Supporting Actor in a Play or Musical

REWIND (Nick Bernardi)

Best Supporting Actress in a Play or Musical

SEWING THE DREAM (Catherine Ariale)

Best Set Design & Projections

REWIND (Richard Oullette, David Forsee)

Best Lighting Design – (tie)

REWIND (Zach Pizza)
FINDING MADAME CURIE (Michael Cole)

Best Costume Design

SEWING THE DREAM (Debbi Hobson)

Best Director in a Play or Musical

RETRACTION (Jen Wineman)

Best Book of a Musical

REWIND (Sam Rose & Geoffrey Rose)

Best Musical Score- (tie)

REWIND (Sam Rose & Geoffrey Rose)
GOLDEN CAGE (Deborah Henson-Conant)

Best Choreography

REWIND (Whitney G-Bowley)

Best Musical – (tie)

REWIND (Book, Music, Lyrics by Sam Rose & Geoffrey Rose)
SEWING THE DREAM (Book & Lyrics by Judith Estrine, Music by David Kurkowski)

Best Play

RETRACTION (David Gutierrez)

Most Innovative Production

GOLDEN CAGE (Deborah Henson-Conant)

To see photos of this work and for more information, go to the Festival’s homepage at www.newworksfest.org

Want to keep up with CreateTheater as we continue to develop and produce new work? Jump on our email list here.

Why Are You in Theater?

by Cate Cammarata | Mar 28, 2022 | Theater, Writing Tips

I know it’s not for the money.

So… what’s your why?

Part of the privilege of teaching theater on a college level is the constant re-evaluation of the art form as it shape-shifts through human history. For the Greeks it was an integral part of the social experiment to foster loyalty to and identify with the Athenian ethos. Likewise, part of the success of the Elizabethan theater was in response to and encouragement of the burst of patriotic spirit in England following the defeat of the Spanish Armada in 1588. Throughout the twentieth century, theater was used to express the larger need for social change, to interpret and reinterpret the human conditions in which they found themselves.

Artists make art in response to the culture that surrounds them – and use it to collectively create the social change they desire.

My students often comment on how even a cursory study of theatre history helps them to understand social movements over different time periods, and what life was like “back then” for “real people.” I explain that is because theatre can be seen as a “mirror” on the human experience from one participant’s perspective of life (the playwright) as he saw it. It gives voice to a period that no longer exists.

What needs to be voiced now, at the beginning of the 21^st century? What is your interpretation of the human experience?

What’s the Story Only You Can Write?

We live in some amazing times. Collectively I feel that paradigm shift is occurring in our lifetime.

Do you see it?

Political division in our country
A potential global conflict in the making
Little sense of the collective “we,” a loss of community spirit that unites us
Economic uncertainty
Tribal mentalities that are exclusive rather than inclusive
A loss of trust in our leaders and institutions
Shifts in attitudes regarding work and labor
A pervasive sense of grief for what was and is no more
Plus so many others – fill in your own blanks.

In every area, we are experiencing a tectonic change. A profound shift that is breaking our sense of personal continuity with “the way things are.” Referring to 2019 right now feels like a different time and place.

These feelings, both on the collective and individual level, are the 21^st century artists’ canvas.

Envision Change

Artists, especially theatre artists, have always said, “Look at yourself. What do you see? Do you like it? Do you really want it to be this way?”

My dear artist friend – what is your message? How do you see life today?

Artists are cultural changemakers, people who stand up and force us to look at who we are, in hopes of creating change.

Henrik Ibsen saw the powerlessness of women in their own homes. His play A Doll’s House sparked the women’s movement.
George Bernard Shaw saw the degradation of poverty and the exploitation of the poor around him and wrote social plays that led to the improvement of social conditions everywhere.
Erik Jensen and Jessica Blank saw the unjust conviction of prisoners on Death Row and interviewed many who were jailed for crimes they didn’t even commit. Their Off-Broadway play The Exonerated led to the overturning of the death penalty in Illinois in 2003.

There are so many more examples that illustrate that when artists’ voices are heard, social and cultural change begins to happen.

How Are You Contributing to the Cultural Conversation?

What’s the story only YOU can write, based on where you are in the world and what you are feeling right now?

What truths do you hold to be “self-evident?” What is not being said that needs to be understood?

What will future academics teach about YOU?

CreateTheater was formed help you launch the plays that need to be told right now. Create theater that makes a difference. Write the play YOU NEED TO WRITE.

I’m looking for new plays and musicals to develop.

Story vs. Plot

by Cate Cammarata | Apr 26, 2021 | Dramaturgy, Writing Tips

Where in the Story Does Your Plot Start?

A discussion about the difference between plot vs. story is anything but an academic question. Instead, like most talks about structure, how a plot is designed from the ground up defines how the audience experiences the story later in the theater. The point of attack is that first thing the audience will see or hear as the curtain goes up.

It’s the first decision that can make or break a great idea for a play, and frankly, I’ve seen too many playwrights who are confused at what point their show should begin in the story.

What’s the difference between plot and story?

Story is a chronological sequence of events: this happens, then that happens, then that happened next.

However, a plot is carefully constructed by the writer to create a meaning out of those events. A writer sorts and sifts, edits and rearranges the sequence of events in a story to tell the story in a certain way to a certain audience, to create a certain effect on that audience.

This is the craft of writing. A writer uses his own unique perspective to create meaning. A writer is not a historian nor a journalist. There’s a reason that Plot is #1 of Aristotle’s Six Elements. A weak plot will get the dramatist nowhere fast.

Early or Late Point of Attack?

It’s a generally accepted saying that in writing a play you have to “get in late, get out early.” In other words, start the plot or scene as late in the action as you can, show the action, and then get out of the plot or scene as quickly as possible. This is how most contemporary shows are built, with a late point of attack. This climactic structure allows the story to focus on building the suspense, on engaging the audience in an entertaining way while posing the dramatic question that forms the spine of the story.

Contrast this structure to its opposite, the early point of attack. Look at Les Miserables, written by Victor Hugo in the 19^th century, that journeys over many years, over a vast sequence of events that all play out in front of the audience’s eyes and ears. An episodic structure unfolds episode by episode onstage, with little exposition needed. It too has a dramatic spine, but is built to explain causes – why something happened.

A climactic structure is interested in effects – what happened as a result of the inciting event.

In thinking about where the point of attack should be, keep in mind that every story and every character has a history. The problem is to decide where in that history to begin telling the tale.

Plays typically begin at a point just before the primary conflict erupts out of the world of the story. Successful musicals have a variety of both early and late points of attack.

Plays need conflict to fuel their dramatic action, so from a technical standpoint this “fuel” needs to catch fire a few pages after the point of attack – and this tells you where the point of attack should be. Let’s just say for a point of reference, for a full length play try to have the inciting event happen before page 15, on average.

Since many contemporary playwrights use a very late point of attack, their plays cover only the last few hours or days of the story’s history prior to the climax of the major conflict logically generated by that story.

Climatic vs. Episodic

In general, for plays using a Climactic Story Structure,

Plot begins late in story, closer to the very end or to the climax
Covers a short space of time, perhaps a few hours, or at most a few days
Often occurs on one set
Casts are smaller, usually not more than six or eight
Plot is linear with few subplots
Dramatic action occurs in a logical cause and effect chain.

By contrast, in plays using an Episodic Structure,

Plot begins relatively early in the story and moves in a series of episodes
Generally covers a longer period of time: weeks, months, sometimes years
Travels to many locales, often exotic
Often employs theatricality (flashbacks, dreams, visions, etc)
Sometimes uses a non-linear plot structure to tell the story
Larger casts with many actors playing multiple roles
Frequently marked by several threads of action juxtaposed together to create a web of circumstances

How to Start the Play You Want to Write

The opening of your play needs to grab the audience’s attention, otherwise the battle is lost before it begins no matter which point of attach you’re using. In general, think about having these elements in your openings:

Start your play as far into the story as possible. Begin well into the story, just before the inciting incident.
Be sure that something happens early on (the inciting incident) to upset the world of the play and cause your protagonist to take action (no one likes a passive protagonist)
Give your protagonist a critical want and make it clear to the audience. Make the stakes high.
Be sure that the antagonist provides strong obstacles. The more even the battle, the greater the suspense.
Get the backstory in throughout the play, when it’s necessary to do so, by gradually weaving into the dialogue the backstory exposition that happened before the start of the play.

So to sum up, a plot is a roadmap to get you where you want to go, and what you want your audience to experience at the end of the play. A plot builds a definite structure from the story’s sequence of events as determined by you, the writer..

Are you writing a play or musical? Would you like someone to look over your script, or to help overcome writer’s block?

Schedule a free consultation with me here.

Join the Online Theater Community at CreateTheater.com.

New Play Development Goes Online

by Cate Cammarata | Mar 29, 2020 | NPD, Theater

Our New Online Reading Series is a Success

I launched CreateTheater.com a few years ago, dedicating it to the playwright and all aspects of new play/musical development. I always intended it to be a 100% online theater community. It’s now developing as a virtual space where the theater industry can go online to see readings coming up in the pipeline, network with other industry people across the globe, and lots more.

Our new online reading space, CreateTheater.com’s Monday Night Reading Series, launched this past Monday 3/23/2020 with Melissa Bell’s play ZOE COMES HOME.

Not only did we achieve a high of 47 online participants across the world, people were able to see that a Zoom reading can be almost as effective for NPD as an ‘in-person’ staged reading.

Jack Feldstein, a writer from NYC, found it to be “like a cross between theater and TV and YouTube. A new hybrid form to present new plays. And very helpful for the playwright in their development of their piece.”

The Power of Zoom for Readings

When an audience member attends a Zoom reading, they are instructed to use the “speaker view,” which utilizes the voice-activated camera technology. The effect becomes something like a multi-camera video shoot.

“The Zoom play reading technique works because we get to see the faces of the actors close up,” Feldstein said. “And actually, in a theater reading we might not able to see faces quite that clearly. Thus, a good actor who is in character and expressive is able to really add to the performance.”

Melissa Bell, the writer for ZOE COMES HOME, found the reading to be very helpful. “The reading gave me solid feedback that I was able to put to use in my writing the very next day. The format allowed me to garner many responses and feedback, from professional playwrights and dramaturgs to avid theatre-lovers.”

She added, “It felt intimate, and we could get a real sense of connection between the characters, even with the virtual format. People told me what was landing for them, and I was surprised by their “most memorable moments.” And I was truly moved by some of the comments I got from the audience – they really encouraged me to keep going! Working with CreateTheater was an opportunity I just had to jump into!”

Desire to Keep New Work Moving Forward

Like everyone else, I asked myself what I could do to help my theater community get through this challenging time. As a creative producer and dramaturg specializing in new play and new musical development, I specifically wanted to keep writers’ work moving forward, and thus help them to stay focused, emotionally positive and productive.

What better way to do this than to create an online place for new work to develop? And to use the CreateTheater.com community for networking and meeting others?

If you’re interested in presenting an online reading, contact cate@createtheater.com.

Join the CreateTheater.com Community – it’s free!

Join Now!

Something Bigger

by Cate Cammarata | Jan 6, 2020 | Inspiration, Theater

“Something’s coming, I don’t know what it is, but it is gonna be great!” – Tony, West Side Story

It’s Coming!

It’s a new decade. 2020.

We find ourselves here, in the present moment. For me, and perhaps for many of us, it looks different from what we expected. The state of our industry, our country, and the world, are suddenly different. How’d that happen?

I know we all look toward 2020, and the new decade in general, to be something bigger. And better!

Where are you now, as a writer, as an artist, as a person? Where are we as a country, as a republic, as a democracy?

The second question may be out of our hands, beside our participation in the upcoming elections. But the answer to the first and more important question lies totally within yourself.

How Big Can You Be?

I’m challenging myself to be bigger this year, to set bigger goals and step up to the plate more often. I know that my mission in this life is to create theater – theater that expresses where we are at this point in history. When I teach theater to college students, I like to point out that although our discussions center around a play, we’re really looking at a piece of history reflected through an individual writer’s perspective. When we study a play, it’s a reflection of one individual’s viewpoint of what’s happening around them during that point in time.

Therefore, while studying dramatic literature, my students get immersed in the study of history as well. And they love it.

Many of us find it fascinating to study history through personal stories. You and I, by writing and producing plays and new musicals, are creating the theatrical canon of the 21^st century.

I think that’s BIG.

My personal 2020 challenge is to help you put more of your stories on stage. Your challenge is to write the best plays possible that reflect the experience of living in this time, in this culture, at the beginning of this new millennia. And when those stories aren’t produced or published, they disappear.

So, how big can you be? Another Chekhov, Kushner, Sondheim, or Miranda? Why not?

Believe in Yourself

No one does theater because they think they’re going to get rich. And if that’s what you think, I’ve got a bridge to sell you.

You write stories, musicals and screenplays because you believe you have something important to say, to contribute, to the culture. You need to express your own perspective in your own way. And it gives you joy like nothing else when it works, when people stand and applaud your work.

When you know that your play changed something or someone, that makes it all worthwhile, doesn’t it? My favorite example is Jessica Blank and Erik Jenson’s Off-Broadway play The Exonerated, a play about six people who were exonerated after years on death row for a crime they did not commit. After watching a “command performance” in the Senate days before the final vote, the Supreme Court overruled the death penalty in the state of Illinois.

It doesn’t get any bigger than that. Yep, a piece of theater saved people from death and changed government policy.

Believe that your gift of storytelling can change lives and impact this world for the better.

It Takes a Village

Our plays are very much our children. Like our children, it takes a village to make them grow.

Your village are your connections, your theatrical friends and supporters who have nurtured you and encouraged your work all along. And it’s also the new people you’re meeting all the time, through your networking, pitching, and writers’ groups and classes.

I challenge you to go bigger this year – network more, submit more, learn more, write more. And don’t let the money blues, or the not enough time blues, get you down. Know that at a certain point it really is a numbers game, and if you keep at it you’re improving your odds all the time.

Just keep showing up.

Your real enemy is your own insecurity, your own sense of lack, your own depression or even despair. Sometimes it’s so damn difficult to keep submitting, to keep smiling, to keep trying. Despite yourself, you are tempted to agree that theater is too hard right now to do.

That’s when you need to lean on people who truly know you and like your work – your Village. People who are in the same place and understand the struggle.

And by the way, a village isn’t a town or a city. They’re too big. Some online theater sites feel like cities, so crowded and big. You want people to know you, who want to journey alongside you as you move your work forward. A village is your small group, your peers, your peeps.

CreateTheater is a Village

I’ve envisioned my CreateTheater.com community as a village where people can connect online, take classes online, and network online, to make meaningful ties with other writers and theater industry pros who are part of my theater community in NYC. It’s a village, not a city.

But if you’re a person who likes that “small town” feeling of knowing others and being known, then subscribe to our newsletter. Join in our community and take free classes that will come with the membership opening soon. Meet people along the way who are dreaming as big as you are.

I’m planning more for you coming soon.

Make friends in the industry online. Join the CreateTheater village.

“Cate Cammarata is an excellent coach who has helped and encouraged me every
step of the way, since I first worked with her, when she was the dramaturg for the
developmental reading of my show, CRUDE-The Musical, at the 2016 New York
Musical Festival. This past year, CRUDE-The Climate Change Musical premiered at the Cape Cod
Theatre Company, Oct. 10 – Nov. 10, 2019. The show ran for five weeks, with 17
performances, and generated great publicity. I can’t thank Cate enough for her
expert coaching, over the past 3 years, as I worked to improve the arc of the script.
She’s taught me so much about the industry, about producing and about networking.
Cate has also helped me with specific networking opportunities.
I highly recommend Cate Cammarata as a fine coach for any writer looking to
succeed in the theater industry.

— Maureen Condon, Playwright & Composer

“I believe a Mastermind group is essential – for the support, ideas generated, the encouragement, the accountability, the important friendships formed and for a sense of belonging in the theater, whether or not we’ve been produced. Cate’s Mastermind, in particular, is extremely helpful. Cate knows her stuff and gently pushes us forward, stepping in to help when needed. She is passionate about getting work onto a stage. She makes you believe it’s not “if” but “when”.”

— Jarlath Barsanti Jacobs, Playwright

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